Metformin Can Alleviate the Symptom of Patient with Diabetic Nephropathy Through Reducing the Serum Level of Hcy and IL-33

BACKGROUND: Interleukin-33 (IL-33) and homocysteine (Hcy) were found to be up-regulated in patients with diabetic nephropathy (DN), and the present study aimed to investigate whether metformin (MT) can influence the serum levels of IL-33 and Hcy in patients with DN. METHODS: Sixty patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) were divided into DM group (albumin: Alb <20 mg/L), DN group (Alb >20mg/L), and DN+ MT treatment group, with 20 cases in each group. Patients in each group were treated with insulin for 3 months, and patients in DN+MT group was treated with insulin+MT for 3 months. The serum levels of IL-33, urinary microalbumin excretion rate (UAE), body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), creatinine (Cr), cystatin C (CysC) and Hcy were measured before and after medication. Twenty normal subjects were involved as control. RESULTS: BMI, Hcy and TC were reduced and HDL-C was increased of patients had been treated with metformin and insulin. UAE, Cr, Ccr and CysC had no differences before and after treatment. The serum level of IL-33 significantly up-regulated in patients with DN, and MT treatment significantly decreased the serum level of IL-33 in patients with DN. CONCLUSION: Metformin could alleviate the symptom of patient with DN through decreasing the serum level of IL-33 and Hcy.